Farmer activist Navdeep Singh walks out of jail after getting bail

Ambala: Farmer activist Navdeep Singh walked out of Ambala Central Jail after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail in a case registered in connection with farmers' February 13 'Delhi Chalo' march.

He was arrested by Haryana Police from Mohali on March 28 on various charges, including rioting and attempt to murder. He walked out of jail after almost four months on Tuesday evening.

Earlier, farmer leaders had said that they would gherao the office of the Ambala superintendent of police on Wednesday and Thursday to protest against Navdeep Singh's arrest. However, they dropped the plan after his release.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher claimed on Wednesday that police had detained a few farmer leaders who had gone to Ambala to bring Navdeep Singh to the Shambhu border to honour him after his release from jail.

"Our programme was to honour him. But the Haryana government has issued instructions that farmers are not allowed to enter Ambala district," Pandher told reporters.

Another farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said farmers had planned to assemble at Ambala's Anaj Mandi "and bring Navdeep Singh Jalbera to Shambhu border and honour him".

He said Amarjit Singh Mohri (Haryana), Jaswinder Singh Longowal (Punjab) and Ranjit Singh (Rajasthan) were among the farmer leaders detained by police.

Ambala police said prohibitory orders have been imposed in the district and nobody was allowed to hold a procession.

Navdeep Singh, a native of Jalbera village near Ambala, became famous as the "water cannon man" after he climbed atop a police water cannon in November 2020 during the farmers' agitation against the now-repealed farm laws.

On February 13, farmers from Punjab led by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha began a march to Delhi to press their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

They were stopped by Haryana Police, who had set up barricades, including cemented blocks, on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway. The farmers clashed with police personnel and have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri points along the Punjab and Haryana border ever since.

On July 10, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the Haryana government to open the barricades at the Shambhu border within a week on an "experimental basis". The court also directed the Punjab government to ensure that the protesters gathered in its territory are "duly controlled as and when the situation so requires".

The Haryana government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court order. The top court will hear the plea on July 22.